The present invention relates to an image combining apparatus and image combining program, particularly to an image combining apparatus and image combining program that use an electronic pen to combine images.
One of the input devices used in recent years is an electronic pen by which handwriting is inputted by a pen and then outputted as handwriting data. This electronic pen has a small-sized camera mounted on the pen tip. The small-sized camera is used to read a position detection pattern called the Anoto (registered trademark) pattern printed on a sheet, thereby identifying the position of the pen tip and outputting handwriting such as a handwritten character, figures and pictures as handwriting data.
An example of a system using such an electronic pen includes a printing system disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-163952. This printing system includes a built-in digital camera, a digital pen having a writing function, sheets exclusive for digital pen, a communication device that receives a photographic image data from the digital pen, then sends the received image to a server, and then receives edited data from the server, and an output device which includes at least a photographic image information reading section and is connected to the aforementioned communication device to output printed matters.
When the art of the aforementioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-163952 is utilized, an image arranged on a sheet in advance can be combined with a handwritten image written on the aforementioned image by hand in order to output a combined image. However, to create a material or the like on which a great number of object images such as photographs captured by a digital camera, photos and figures read by a scanner or photos and figures stored in a recording medium such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory are arranged at prescribed positions of each page, it is necessary to use a computer device to select an image and to designate the layout of the selected image to be arranged in particular positions on a sheet or screen. Thus, it has not been easy in the conventional art to produce a combined image.